gpatt0n

CSK: You may be or you may be a Yankee culturally modified by having lived in the heart of the midlander region - Philadelphia. Here's the sketch that the authors present of the Midlands: I can't emphasize enough the fact that there are enclaves of other 'cultures' in most of the states. Indeed, only 15 states of the 50 represent a single dominate culture. For instance, you know that the Civil war caused the separation of West Virginia from Virginia. Well, there were enclaves of anti-rebel attitudes in Georgia (There are interesting stories in Paulding's past about this divi

You may laugh but it really has a lot stronger scientific basis than the 'twinki' defense or the "i was raised by parents that spoiled me rotten' defense ... both of which have been successful. Indeed, back in 1993 after a 25 year longitudinal study of some 1000 kids from birth through age 24 in Philadelphia, the Fordham University Law School published this essay on this very subject (link). Here is excerpt from the first page: Of course one might wonder why it has not been recognized as a common defense in the near 20 years since its publication. That is actually pretty simple.

You do know that Iran is Shiite Muslims and ISIS/Al Queda comes from the Sunni Muslim tradition and this guy in Chattnooga, was a Sunni from Kuwait. You also do remember that in those good old days Iran was an ally ... but our support for a right wing "king" who sought to use force to secularize the society by using a brutal secret police to coerce its people contributed to a religious reactionary revolution. BTW: You do know that Rupert Murdoch has invested heavily in the arms industry is acting like William Randolph Hurst 115 years ago ... in his quest for fun, misery and profit.

I think you would agree that drugs/alcohol and the loss of inhibition control contribute to crime. The fact is that exposure to lead amongst children also impacts inhibition control lowering it and making those who were poisoned less capable of being able to exert 'normal' self control. The difference is that it has lowered their IQ, lowered their impulse control, provided them ADHD ... all the time. Alcohol and drugs simply exacerbate those disabilities that are with them 24/7. That is the scientific reality. You say they would kill for someone's Air Jordan's and I'm saying that if

If you do that Whitey, be fair and post the report(s) for both Jerry Shearin and Tony Crowe. It would be kind of cool if you were put them in a comparative table pubby

This was from a 1993 report. Notably the lead levels of children under age six that raises concern today encompass lead levels of 10 or higher. The latest data for the state show that in 2013: State 104,492 children under age 6 screened and 2,603 had lead levels of 5-9 units (which shows lead exposure and concern) and 484 children showed lead levels of 10 or greater. In 2013 data, with over 800 children under six screened, Paulding had two children show lead exposure over 10 units. This is an improvement from 2010 when we had 4 children with exposure over 10 and one child showing exposu

I think it is a bit more nuanced than that but since you paraphrased my comment, let me paraphrase your approach. Zorro is saying "is blame it on the debbil and since we can't do nuttin 'bout it, who cares." I also understand why you reject any effort to understand the issue 'cause you don't believe anyone should do anything to fix it. I'm thinking that is because you come from and were acculturated in either the Tidewater, Old South or Greater Appalachian regions. I can say you can't blame my father for me thinking something can be done about it; after all he was from the old sou

If you've ever been to A&M, you'd understand why they don't want a smoker; i.e. someone who might sneak off in the warehouse to have a puff or two. Frankly there, hiring smokers there would be a fire risk - an easily avoidable fire risk made possible by just not hiring smokers. pubby

This is interesting and the cities you cite all seem to be older industrialized cities which also tends to lend more credence to the lead-connection in terms of violent crime. Another point, all cities in your source's ranking have populations over 25,000. We know that in the south and appalachian regions are just not as urban as other places - particularly the north. Still, there is another factor in play that makes your list of cities irrelevant in regard to the larger cultural predispositions - i.e. the lead factor. I just looked at East Point, GA as an example. It grew and reach

What makes you think there are not guns in recruitment places. Tennessee is a concealed carry state isn't it? When you commented that he was a Christian, I figured you were going to claim he was an undocumented alien from Mexico hired by the Donald as a publicity stunt. Seems he came in and was a naturalized US Citizen from Kuwait. Maybe we ought to start looking at naturalized citizens. What do you think ABR? Good idea? In all seriousness, I won't defend this guy and it does suggest that Sunni Muslims may be a bigger threat even if they are from oil rich families. pubby

Apparently the mathematician who calculated the solar minimum is, as they say, not a climate scientist and, according to climate scientists, doesn't have a clue. The main contention of the lady mathematician was that the little ice age observed 370 years ago was the primary cause by the solar minimums. Climate scientists said this was incorrect. Rather the primary causes of that event was an inordinate number of volcanoes and a decline in the amount of carbon dioxide in the air in that period as man was not putting a great deal of carbon dioxide in the air at the time. (Wood burning is a

I'd much rather you tell me than tell the sheriff. pubby

They do have movies on Netflix too. One I'd missed and found interesting last night was Fierce People. Oh, and I found the first season of House of Cards, and for that matter, Orange is the new black, better than subsequent seasons. Good enough to watch. I also think The Wire is on netflix now as well ... scratch that ... it is not but Californication is ... I kind of like that quirky left coast show. pubby

I think another key thing about 'inner city' crime is the residual lead particles that pollute the urban environment. Indeed, of all American cities, it seems that Chicago is one of the most 'lead' polluted places in the nation. I know folks here have no grasp of the legitimacy of the causality of lead in the spike in violence that began accelerating in the 1960s through the mid 1990s. I happened again on articles regarding this phenomenon, this time in a Forbes article. The article itself is a retelling of the Mother Jones article I've discussed here before. What is remarkable a

I'd like a cite on the murder rate in the south going down. Seriously, I would as a statistic like that would be heralded by every newspaper in the region, including the small town rags. pubby

Zorro: You're not very rigorous in your use of statistics. When you look at cities and total numbers, you are not 'adjusting' for a greater population. Sure, Chicago has more murders than Anniston Alabama because there are more people there. The rate per 100,000 is the more reliable figure. On the rate of murder per 100,000, I remember when living in Fort Smith, AR ... the area just across the state line in Ok used to be considered the highest murder rate (per 100,000) in the nation when Fort Chaffee was active. They didn't have but maybe 20-30 murders a year but Poteau had

I ran across this delineation of eleven distinct cultures that exist in the USA today. This is the work of some Tufts University researchers who analyzed the nation primarily on the subject of violence and how, as a nation, we will seek to deal with it. Paulding, BTW, is considered, not of the deep south culture, but Appalachian region. Here is the map: (Right click and select open image in new window to enlarge) I note that while I grew up in a border county of the deep south - and most places I've lived are border counties - I've lived mostly in Appalachian counties in Arkan

Whitey: Our entire campaign finance system is corrupt from the ground up. Has been since before Watergate in the 1970s. Heck, the idea that reporting of campaign finance sources was only intended as a first step in campaign finance reform. Then they put limits on individual contributions, outlawed extortion by employers to get extort money from their employees on behalf of a favored candidate (that is what got the company that built the courthouse in trouble, remember ) . They also largely outlawed corporate contributions. And dang, anyone who looks at it really does see there ar

There are too damn many to address them all... and frankly, they come from all sides. Perfection eludes us all. pubby

Dallas Red ... There is nothing like the smell of misogyny in the morning with hormone replacement therapy. pubby

As far as comparison to Burl Ellis of DeKalb ... I don't think that Mr. Austin has appeared before a grand jury or lied to an investigator; I don't think there are rumors or allegations of bid rigging; there is a difference between extorting a campaign contribution and accepting one over dinner and drinks. Bring me a tape of a conversation where he extorts a contributor. Hell, bring me a contributor who will swear an affidavit that they've been strongarmed into contributing and I'll publish the sumbitch. But without proof, Whitey, you got jack. pubby

Benjamin Disraeli had a quote. He said, "There are lies, damned lies and statistics." What you did Whitey is show a fund-raising report. If you had shown the complete report it would tell you that David Austin is still in debt for his campaign and the funds raised went to retire a portion of that debt which stands now about $80,000 or so for his previous two campaigns. Who, bTW, do you think funds campaigns? Again, this is a case of throwing innuendo and BS at the guy who, like many in public service, actually pay for the privilege to have this kind of crap heaved at them by the

The smartest 93 people in the county But ... mojo, you didn't pay attention. I was saying that the county needed to do a better job and one of the ways they can do a better job is to be more transparent. Unfortunately, what Todd, Tony and Vernon think of as transparency, is putting people in the meeting video. My idea is to give them more than the two hours between the end of the 10 am meeting and the 2pm meeting to think about, discuss and lobby the commissioners on the actions they take. Having seen the commission in action for over 25 years, I know that two hours or even 72 ho

Folks, Paulding.com became a target for the conspiracy theorists regarding Jade Helm when DAHBOO777 and others included posts from here back in 2004 that talked of the legendary Paulding Tunnels. The video (here) is the third most popular video this guy has produced with over 487,000+ views. His video and others like this one from the SC psychologist has over 57,000 and focuses on the Pcom-inspired tunnels hoax. Their videos linked these so-called government tunnels to some of the more outlandish Jade Helm 15 rumors of the black man in the white house taking folks guns. For those who ha

So which line, exactly, is your biggest lie? pubby